A final flourish for Yamal LNG

Less than two years ago, in December 2017, the Yamal liquid natural gas (LNG) project’s first production plant, known as Train 1, came online.

Shortly after, it was joined by two more trains; together, the three have an annual production capacity of 16.5 million metric tons. The fourth train is set to join its older siblings in November 2019. This final addition will be based on “Arctic Cascade” liquefaction technology developed by Russian gas producer Novatek.

Meanwhile, the last of 15 innovative, Arctic-capable, ice-breaking LNG tankers—the Yakov Gakkel—will roll off the production line three months ahead of schedule. Each carrier can transport 172,000 m³ of LNG produced from the Yamal LNG plant in the Russian Arctic. As the final train takes its place, the Yamal plant will be able to produce 17.4 million metric tons of LNG annually.

Bureau Veritas and the world’s most innovative gas carriers

Given the harsh and challenging conditions in the Arctic, an entirely new class of LNG carrier had to be built for the Yamal project. To ensure the safety and efficiency of their ships, Yamal LNG came to Bureau Veritas for their internationally respected classification services, long experience with LNG carriers and expertise in polar and ice-class vessels.

Bureau Veritas worked in close cooperation with the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, providing Yamal with dual-class vessels. The resulting Arctic class (Russian Register ARC7) vessels are equivalent to Bureau Veritas POLAR CLASS 3. They can be operated year-round in second-year ice with old ice inclusions with a thickness up to 2.5 m, and are classed to Bureau Veritas notation COLD. This ensures the hull and equipment are winterized, and can continue to operate in temperatures as low as -45º C. 

As this project draws to a close, Bureau Veritas experts have spent tens of thousands of hours working on the design, safety and environmental aspects of the Yamal LNG carriers. We are pleased to have further advanced our expertise with gas and arctic operations while working on Yamal, one of the maritime world’s greatest LNG projects to date.

Photo credit ©DSME / Sovcomflot